As the word celebrates the World Wetlands Day, stakeholders
in wetlands management in Rwanda get together to look back at the achievements
so far in terms of sustainable wetlands management and use. ARCOS is happy to
be an active contributor to this achievement and pledges to continue do so as
we continue our road towards making our wetlands a pillar of sustainable
development in the country.

Today February 2, as the world celebrates the World Wetland
Day, a spotlight has been given to urban wetlands to highlight their irreplaceable
contribution to making cities livable places.

Currently, we are experiencing the highest urbanization rate
in the history of the words’ population. At the
same time, we have recorded very bad regression of wetlands in the last few
decades where more than 64% of the world’s wetlands have been
lost since 1900. These two phenomena
come as no coincidence given today’s prevalent
capitalism-driven mindset of viewing wetlands as vacant land up for grabs for
urban expansion or disposal of urban waste.

In Rwanda, the urban population is growing at a very fast
rate of 4.5% per year and the country is set to have 35% of its population
living in urban areas by 2024. This fast rate of urbanization in Rwanda has had
a big impact on the urban wetlands where most were allocated for installation
of industrial parks, warehouses, and workshops such as garages. In Kigali for
instance, the character of all the urban wetlands has irrevocably been changed
and the city has started to see consequences of this loss. Indeed, the city has
seen several severe killer floods in its downstream parts of Nyabugogo during
the last 5 years. Though this is partly attributed to climate change; the major
culprit is the reduction of the wetlands’ capacity to absorb
runoff storm water from the increasingly paved (impermeable) slopes of Kigali
so they can release that water slowly overtime.

Apart from this flood regulation service urban wetlands
have, they also are good at capturing sediments and filter toxic materials from
both domestic and industrial production/consumption so that downstream rivers
and streams are less polluted. This function has also been severely reduced for
Kigali’s urban and peri-urban wetlands which makes
the confluence of Nyabugogo (the major river draining the city) and Nyabarongo
the biggest point-source pollution in the whole of Akagera basin.

The government of Rwanda has introduced a number of measures
to address this issue including the enactment of laws and regulations which
allows for better management and use of wetlands in the country. The land law
for instance provides for well prescribed use of wetland lands in the country
and a buffer of 50m on major important wetlands. Effort has also been put in
the enforcement of these laws though some gaps are still observed in the
implementation.

Today’s celebration of the
World Wetlands Day under the theme “Urban wetlands - make cities liveable”
is a good opportunity for awareness raising and sensitization of the public and
urban planners about the importance of wetlands as essential green
infrastructure for our cities.

The Rwanda Environmental Authority (REMA), the government
agency in charge of wetlands management in Rwanda has used the occasion of
today’s
WWD to organize a conference-debate on “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future in Rwanda”,
an event that saw the participation of government authorities, private sector,
civil society, local and international community, academic institutions, as
well as the media who all came together to celebrate the achievements made so
far in tackling the issue of wetland management in the country and chart a way
forward to address the remaining threats that affect these important
ecosystems.

Community participation constitutes a corner stone for any
successful good wetland management scheme. ARCOS supports communities that
depend on wetland services and products in its focal landscapes in Rwanda.
Using the approach of Nature-Based Community Enterprises (NBCEs), it
contributes to the reduction of pressure on these ecosystems through
improvement of community livelihoods and building their capacity to become true
stewards of environmental management in their villages. Currently, 15 community
groups of fishermen, handcrafts makers, as well as fruits and vegetable
producers in Rwanda are being supported with the goal to make these communities
a model that can be scaled up to include all communities that live with
wetlands in the region. In a recent interview with Dr Sam Kanyamibwa, the
Executive Director of ARCOS, he expressed succinctly the view of the
organization on this important theme in these words: “ARCOS envisions Rwanda as not-only a country
of a thousand green hills but also a country of a thousand healthy and
functional wetlands that contribute positively to the economy of the country
through sustainable agriculture, fishing and ecotourism.We firmly believe that by safeguarding these
key freshwater ecosystems, Rwanda can address the issues of water scarcity,
climate-related disasters risk, and food security; while also improving peoples’ livelihoods, health
and well-being”.

ARCOS has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the
secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
and has recently been an active contributor to the process of designating three
new Ramsar sites in Rwanda. Currently, ARCOS holds the position of the
designated NGO for the Ramsar Convention’s programme on Communication,
Education, Participation and Awareness (CEPA) in Rwanda and is currently
exploring with REMA and other partners the possibility to roll out a
country-wide campaign on wetlands, their sustainable management, and the
enhancement of their contribution to the country’s development.

Let’s get together to
protect, restore and rehabilitate our wetlands; our future depends on it!

The World Wetland Day (WWD) is celebrated each year on
February 2nd and the Ramsar Convention selects a theme under which various
events across the world are held to raise awareness on sustainable and wise use of
wetlands. This year’s
theme, Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future, is very fitting given the
current rapid urbanization in all countries which is going to make cities a
major driver of change in wetlands along with other traditional drivers such as
agriculture intensification, energy production and climate change.